Review: THE HONOR STUDENT AT MAGIC HIGH SCHOOL

 Sadly, there's plenty of unworth franchises that get spinoffs too, including the most stubborn of the old-school 'magic school harem light novel' franchises.

THE HONOR STUDENT AT MAGIC HIGH SCHOOL (Mahouka Koko no Yutosei), by Yu Mori, based on the light novel series by Tsutomu Sato and character designs by Kana Ishida.  First published in 2012 and first published in North America in 2015.

PLOT:

Miyuki Shiba wanted to just spend the day with her beloved brother Tatsuya.  Everything was going swimmingly until a terrorist came along to threaten them, but then Tatsuya used his incredible magic power to save her and everyone at the mall!  Now she can spend her days hanging out with the other student council kids being admired (all while keeping an eye on her brother and the numerous girls around him).

STORY:

Who out there was asking "you know what The Irregular at Magic High School needs?  A story about Miyuki!  Y'know, the protagonist's practically-perfect-in-every-way adoptive sister whose existence is defined almost entirely by how badly she wants to bang her older brother!"  The original series is indulgent enough, but this is somehow even worse and even more boring in comparison.

It certainly makes no pretense at anything other than indulgence right from the first page. It begins with Miyuki and Tatsuya going on a date in everything but name.  She's all blushy-crushy and constantly reminds herself (and the audience) that she can't let on how much she wants her brother.  Meanwhile, Tatsuya acts like a sentient 2x4 who only springs to life to explain in boring, granular detail how the magic system of this world works on the fancy barrette he buys her.  All the while, the crowds around them coo over Miyuki's beauty, glare in envy at Tatsuya, and basically treat them both like divine beings who have deigned to grace this sinful world with their glorious presence.  There are hentai manga that are less masturbatory than these first 25 pages and it absolutely sets the tone for what is to come.

It all leads up to an action set-piece with an anonymous fire-wielding nutjob that mostly exists for the same reason everything in this franchise exists: to reaffirm just how awesome these two are at everything, particularly magic.  There's little sense that either of them are in peril or even particularly struggling with any aspect of this battle, rendering the whole sequence dramatically inert.  From there it shifts to the titular Magic High School, but the worship doesn't stop from there.  The girls around Miyuki can't stop marveling at her beauty and perfection, while Miyuki can't stop thinking about her brother and harassing anyone who gets between him and her (be they school bullies or her brother's growing harem of classmates).  The dialogue remains much the same, alternating between blandly conversational and glacially stiff anytime someone needs to explain some plot or something about this world's boring, overly technical magic system.

I don't understand why this spinoff exists.  Sure, The Irregular at Magic High School was (inexplicably) popular in Japan, but telling Miyuki's side of the story doesn't add anything you couldn't get from the original.  At least her brother has some social stigmas to work around in his version of the story.  Meanwhile, Miyuki is rich, popular, pretty, magically gifted, and the golden child of her family.  She has no problems other than her incurable thirst for her brother and clearly the writer sees no problem with that and that leaves this version with no drama to explore.

ART:

I've had my suspicions in the past that the mangaka working on these light novel-to-manga adaptations are largely amateurs, but this is one of the few times I can confirm that thanks to the mangaka's own notes at the end.  They do a perfectly adequate job translating Ishida's character designs to manga form, mostly because those designs were pretty blase to begin with and Mori never forces them to emote beyond vague smiles and yelling.  

Really, most of the issues I have with the visuals here stem from the source illustrations, be it the completely bland settings or the odd school uniforms.  Sure, they're more conservatively designed than most anime high school uniforms, but the boys have these weirdly long, stiff jackets while the girls have odd, diaphanous trains attached to their bolero jacket tops.  There is one person who approves of how Mori handles this manga, and that's the original writer Tsutomu Sato.  I don't know how much I want to rely on his opinion, though, considering his first comment is about how cute the girls are and their "sexy body lines."

RATING:

The Honor Student at Magic High School is not only as tedious and self-indulgent as its parent series but thoroughly pointless to boot.  I can't imagine anyone who wasn't a fan of the original getting anything out of this other than tedium and a serious case of incest-related heebie-jeebies.

This series is published by Yen Press.  This series is complete in Japan with 11 volumes available.  All 11 volumes have been released and are currently in print.

Review: FUSHIGI YUGI - BYAKKO SENKI

I wasn't very keen on the original Fushigi Yugi but found its later prequel to be much better.  How will their latest installment of the story compare to the others?

FUSHIGI YUGI: BYAKKO SENKI by Yuu Watase.  First published in 2017 and first published in North America in 2020.

PLOT:

Young Suzuno is a sweet, sheltered young girl growing up in 1920s Tokyo.  Her father dotes upon her, but he has one rule: do not touch the book called The Universe of the Four Gods.  He remembers all too well what happened to their family friend Takiko and he fears that the book is now seeking out Suzuno in turn.  When her home and family are destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake, the only way to save Suzuno is to let the book draw her into its world.  It is there that she meets a shapeshifting tiger-woman, a pair of desert-wandering orphans, and the first hints to Suzuno's true destiny as the Priestess of Byakko.

Review: THE MELANCHOLY OF SUZUMIYA HARUHI-CHAN

 With yet another summer blockbuster season underway that's stuffed to the gills with sequels, it's high time this blog does the same by looking at some of the many manga sequels, prequels, and spinoffs out there.  The most common spinoff manga idea is 'gag manga,' but unfortunately that doesn't mean that the gags will be any good.

THE MELANCHOLY OF SUZUMIYA HARUHI-CHAN (Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuutsu), based on the light novel series by Nagaru Tanigawa and character designs by Noizi Ito, with story and art by Puyo.  First published in 2008 and first published in North America in 2010.

PLOT:

This is the story of all the wacky goings-on before, during, and after the events of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.  That includes how far Yuki's fondness for dating games goes, Haruhi's weird ideas about holidays, Mikuru's endless gullibility, and the tiny copy of Ryuoko that's forced to live in Yuki's apartment.

Review: REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA - AFTER THE REVOLUTION

Despite the date on this review, this is no trick - it's not only a sequel manga to my favorite anime (and its rather underrated manga adaptation), but it's one of the rare ones to do so in a really substantial sort of way. 

REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA: AFTER THE REVOLUTION (Shoujo Kakumei Utena: After the Revolution), by Chiho Saito, based on the original concept by Be-Papas.  First published in 2017 and first published in North America in 2020.

PLOT:

20 years after Utena brought an end to Akio's endless duels, the former members of Ohtori Academy's student council are still grappling with old problems.  Touga and Saionji are working as art dealers, but still find themselves in competition with one another.  Juri's an Olympic fencer, but can't shake the insecurity she feels about her troubled relationship with Shiori.  Miki is an accomplished pianist, but can't understand why his comatose twin sister Kaoru has been rising from her bed to complete his unfinished composition.  In turn they all find themselves back at Ohtori and caught up in mysterious duels, where a strange pink-haired girl is waiting to help them.

Review: SWORD ART ONLINE PROGRESSIVE

 It's been too long since we've done a round-up of some of the many manga sequels, prequels, and spinoffs out there around here.  Let's rectify that this March, starting with a series that dares to ask "What does Sword Art Online look like from the perspective of someone who isn't Kirito?"

SWORD ART ONLINE PROGRESSIVE (Sodo Ato Onrain Puroguresshibu), based on the light novel by Reki Kawahara and character designs by abec with art by Kiseki Himura.  First published in 2013 and first published in North America in 2015.

PLOT:

Asuna Yuuki seemingly spent all her time studying in the hopes of getting into the best schools and pleasing her cold, demanding mother.  She only meant to check out her brother's virtual game system out of curiosity, but now she finds herself trapped in the virtual game world alongside thousands of others.  It's only after meeting a mysterious lone gamer that she finds the determination to not just survive, but get out of the game.

Review: PET SHOP OF HORRORS: TOKYO

Let's wrap things up with the sequel to one of my favorite horror manga.  Will this return to Count D's mysterious shop be just as wonderful as before, or contain horrors beyond imagination?

PET SHOP OF HORRORS: TOKYO (Shin Pettoshoppu obu Horazu), by Matsuri Akino.  First published in 2005 and first published in North America in 2008.

PLOT:

After fleeing from Los Angeles (and the attentions of a particularly stubborn detective), Count D has established himself in Tokyo.  He's ready to offer his exotic, shapeshifting pets to anyone who needs them, be they a yakuza henchman in love, a single mother running from her abusive ex, or a frustrated wanna-be novelist.  Meanwhile, the landlord's son is deeply suspicious that Count D's business is not all that it seems...

Review: CODE GEASS: NIGHTMARE OF NUNNALLY

During Bandai's short time as a manga publisher, they put out a ridiculous number of Code Geass manga, including many anthologies and AU spinoffs.  This one might be the most radical premise of the lot, but that only makes its mistakes all the more disappointing.

CODE GEASS: NIGHTMARE OF NUNNALLY, based on the original story by Ichirou Ohkouchi & Goro Takiguchi, with art by Tomomasa Takuma.  First published in 2007 and first published in North America in 2009.

PLOT:

Despite the loss of her mother, her family's prestige, her sight, and her ability to walk, Nunnally vi Brittania takes faith and comfort in her life from her older brother Lelouch.  When her brother disappears during an incident with Brittanian soldiers, Nunnally encounters a strange doll called Nemo that grants her wish for power to help herself, giving her the ability to temporarily move and see while encased in a bizarre mechanical suit.  As the conflict between the armies of the Brittanian Empire and rebel forces within Japan escalate, Nunnally finds herself wondering if her new power is a gift or a curse...

Review: A CERTAIN SCIENTIFIC RAILGUN

You would think that the only thing I would dread more than a manga adaptation of a light novel is a manga adaptation of a light novel spinoff.  Yet this one actually turned to be kind of OK for once.

I guess there has to be an exception out there once in a while.

A CERTAIN SCIENTIFIC RAILGUN (Toaru Kagaku no Rerugan), based on the light novel by Kazumi Kamachi & art by Moto Fuyuawa.  First published in 2007 and first published in North America in 2011.

PLOT:  

In Academy City, young children with extraordinary powers are gathered together so they can control and hone their skills.  One of the most talented of the lot is Mikoto Misaka, a tomboy with such incredible electric powers that she’s been nicknamed ‘the Railgun.’  She finds herself caught up in the investigation of a rash of bombings around town, but the only mystery more compelling than the identity of the bomber is the identity of the weird guy who can block Misaka’s every attack.

STORY:  

A Certain Scientific Railgun has a lot of the usual elements one would associate with light novels: a magic high school, a guy who is seemingly weak but actually has a super-special power, a bunch of cute girls doing cute girl things, even a bit of yuri fanservice.  This all would have been intolerable if not for one thing: that the protagonist Mikoto is cool enough to rise above it all.

I was kind of surprised to discover how much I enjoyed Mikoto as a character.  It certainly helps that her powers are just plain cool and that she gets plenty of opportunity to show them off.  It also helps that her casual style and aloof attitude help to distinguish her from her more traditionally feminine (and more traditionally moe) friends.   She doesn’t have a hero complex, in spite of her powers.  She’s willing to help others when asked, but she’s not picking for a fight either.  If anything, she’s rather unwittingly swept up into the larger plot thanks to her teleporting friend Kuroko.  It’s nice that such a normal and down-to-earth kid can be found in this otherwise outrageous setting.  She’s an audience stand-in done right, for once.

It’s good that Mikoto is so cool because everyone else around her is various degrees of annoying.  First and foremost of that group is Kuroko.  She’s the biggest source of said yuri fanservice in this series, as when she’s not fighting delinquents she’s doing her best to molest Mikoto and steal a kiss.  Her obsessive crush on Mikoto is a gag that falls flat straight from the start and never gets any better in spite of its many, MANY repetitions.  At least Kuroko is relevant to the plot, though, which is more than one can say for their other friend Uiharu.  As far as I can tell, she’s there solely to be as moe as hell with her ever-present flower garland and her ability to…um….be mildly feverish at all times?   By the end I started to wonder if that wasn’t in fact her superpower.  Oh, and she also has a friend that serves no purpose beyond adding more yuri fanservice, just in case you missed it somehow. 

Then there’s Kajima.  His ability is the ability to negate any superpower, a fact that absolutely grinds Mikoto’s gears.  Strictly speaking, he’s a crossover character from this manga’s sister series, A Certain Magical Index, and his role here is fairly minor.  That’s a good thing as Kajima is pretty much the platonic ideal of a light novel hero.  He’s a hapless schmuck with a hero complex, a secret super-special power, and the story plays up his rivalry with Mikoto as a potential romance.  Considering that his presence starts to turn Mikoto into your standard tsundere, he’s pretty much the worst.

So what abot the plot itself?  It tend to vacililate between slice-of-life fluff and superhero-style crime fighting.  It’s only halfway through the volume that the bombing plot comes into play.  I will concede that the bomber’s plot and Kajima’s introduction actually dovetail into one another nicely.  Still, it’s prone to the occasional light-novel-style info drop, especially at the beginning.  I swear these kids can’t get anywhere near a classroom without it turning into one long screed of exposition, right down to the “As you all know.”  Weirdly enough, it never stops to explain the weirdness of this universe itself, such as why they need an entire city dedicated to this high school.  I can’t tell whether this is laziness on the writer’s part or just something that requires reading the other manga/light novels in the franchise to understand.

For all of my complaints, I would consider A Certain Scientific Railgun one of the better light novel to manga adaptations I've come across.  The superhero-style premise is one that’s a natural fit for a comic and Mikoto makes for a great, reliable heroine.  It’s nowhere near as extraordinary as the powers on display, but it’s decent enough to be entertaining.

ART:  

I’m not entirely sure if I like Fuyukawa’s artstyle or not, but it’s certainly lively enough to get a pass.  The girls do tend to look the same around the face and everyone tends to be a bit bobble-headed, but they’re all wildly expressive and lively, and the same is true for the fight scenes.  He does overuse the Dutch angles, but otherwise everything is easy to follow, even in mid-battle.  If anything, he could stand to give the story some scale and breathing room by expanding the panels and giving Academy City some greater visual identity.  As it is, it tends to be the same old shops, schoolrooms and interiors.  It’s not bad by any means, but it never quite distinguishes itself enough to become truly good.

PRESENTATION:  

Like a number of older Seven Seas titles, there’s a preview for another manga.  Sometimes the previews make sense, and sometimes they’re like this instance, where the preview is for Toradora.  Call me crazy, but you’d think that Seven Seas would use this spot to promote their own release of the Index manga.

RATING:  

A Certain Scientific Railgun has a neat concept , a great heroine, and some occasionally lively art which do go a long way towards making the more stereotypically light novel elements more tolerable.  It manages to stand on its own for the most part and it’s fun enough to be a diverting read. 

This series is published by Seven Seas.  This series is ongoing in Japan with 13 volumes available.  All 13 have been released and are currently in print.

Review: GTO: THE EARLY YEARS

With another summer full of blockbusters upon us, it's time to do what they do best and look at some manga sequels, prequels, and sequels.  We'll start with a series that was sold as a prequel to a popular series, but in reality it's more like the popular series is a sequel to it.

GTO: THE EARLY YEARS - SHONAN JUNAI GUMI, by Tohru Fujisawa.  First published in 1990 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Eikichi and Ryuji are two of the baddest high-school hooligans in Hanagawa prefecture.  Together they are Oni-Baki, a yankii duo infamous for their ability to beat down any and all comers.  They're also a pair of doofy high-schoolers looking to lose their virginities and are willing to do ANYTHING to make it happen.  Their latest efforts to pop their cherries at a summer resort nearly work...until they discover that their dates are also their homeroom teachers.  Meanwhile, things get more complicated when a couple of girls set their eyes on the boys first out of revenge, then out of admiration.

Review: ATTACK ON TITAN: NO REGRETS

It's not shocking that there would be a flood of spinoffs in the wake of Attack on Titan's massive success.  It's not shocking that one of those spinoffs would be about Levi, the fangirl favorite of the cast. What is shocking is how little I care about it.

ATTACK ON TITAN: NO REGRETS (Shingeki no Kyojin Kui Naki Sentaku), based on the manga series by Hayate Isayama.  Written by Gun Snark & art by Hikaru Suruga.  First published in 2013 and first published in North America in 2014.

PLOT:

Years before Eren Jager and his friends would join the Survey Corps, Levi Ackerman was simply doing his best to survive in the dark, run-down ruins below the Royal Sector alongside his friends Isabel and Furlan.  Survey Corp commander Erwin Smith sees great potential in them and brings them into his squad, depsite the misgivings of both his fellow soldiers and his new recruits.  They are all put to the test when Erwin tries out a new troop technique beyond the walls, only to end up luring out an abnormal titan.

Review: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF NAGATO YUKI-CHAN

A decade ago, the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise was the biggest thing around.  Not surprisingly, its popularity led to a number of spinoffs getting licensed with today's selection being the most recent.  Does it manage to capture some of the original's off-beat charm or is it just a pale copy?

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF NAGATO YUKI-CHAN (Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoshitsu), by Puyo, based on the light novel series by Nagaru Tanigawa and character designs by Noizi Ito.  First published in 2009 and first published in North America in 2012.

PLOT:

Yuki Nagato is a painfully shy, insecure high school who spends her days getting boss around by her friend Asakura, hanging out in the literature club room, and pining from afar for her classmate Kyon.  She gets her chance to finally confess her feelings when they decide to throw a Christmas party.  Will Yuki summon up her courage in time or just die of embarassment yet again?

Review: GUNDAM WING: EPISODE ZERO

Normally I would be saving this for a future Gundam-themed month, but I'm currently just shy of the midway point of Gundam Wing thanks to a groupwatch with some of the Wave Motion Cannon boys and I'm ready for a good rant so this prequel will have to do.

GUNDAM WING: EPISODE ZERO (Shin Kido Senki Gundam W EPISODE ZERO), written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa & art by Akira Kanbe, based on the Mobile Suit Gundam series created by Yoshiyuki Tomino & Hajime Yatate.  First published in 1997 and first published in North America in 2002.

PLOT:

Before AC 195 and the events of Operation Meteor, there are still stories to tell.  There are the stories of five young boys each suffering through their own personal tragedies, as well as that of a lost princess.  Their pasts not only shaped their appearances and minds, but led to chance encounters with other notable figures from their future and eventually to the Gundams they would someday pilot.

Review: GENSHIKEN SECOND SEASON

Well well well...look who flaked out last month?

Yeah, thanks to a lot of real-world projects and general household stuff, I was not able to finish up last month's theme month.  That just means I have to double down and make sure I get this month's content going.  With the return of another summer comes another month of manga sequels, prequels, & spin-offs.  To kick things off and to make up for lack of content last month, let's start with the return to everyone's favorite otaku college club.

GENSHIKEN SECOND SEASON (Genshiken Nidaime), by Shimoku Kio.  First published in 2011 and first published in North America in 2012.

PLOT:

While the original club members have mostly graduated, Genshiken lives on (even if the members are largely female and their focus is largely on fujoshi matters).  The club is thrown for a loop when a lovely young lady named Hato walks through their door, only to Hato to be revealed as a boy in drag.  While some members have a harder time than others grasping Hato's situation, they all soon bond over their mutual love of manga and man-love.  Meanwhile, former Genshiken president Madarame is having a hard time coping with transiting to the working world.  He finds himself drawn back into club affairs when his place turns out to be the most convenient place for Hato to change, but will it be enough for him to get over the one who got away?

Review: FULL METAL PANIC! OVERLOAD

Comedy spin-offs of popular franchises are a dime-a-dozen in Japan but we very rarely get them Stateside.  If this book is any indication, though, there's more than a few good reasons why we don't see them published very often.

FULL METAL PANIC! OVERLOAD (Ikkinari! Furumetaru Panikku!), based on the light novel series by Shouji Garou with story and art by Tomohiro Nagai and character designs by Shikidouji. First published in 2001 and first published in North America in 2005.

PLOT:

Kaname Chidori and Sosuke Sagara are back, and this time there are no serious plot elements to hamper them!  Yep, here you'll get nothing but wacky hijinks inside and outside of the classroom as Sosuke's military instincts turn even the most ordinary situation into an explosive one, leaving Kaname to try and keep the peace.

STORY:

So, you do remember all the silly comedy bits from the original Full Metal Panic!?  Well, imagine if someone stretched those moments to fill out an entire manga volume and then halved the quality.  If you can picture that in your mind, then you have some notion of what reading Full Metal Panic! Overload is like.  There's really no point in describing the cast because it's composed almost entirely of Kaname and Sosuke, and if you have any familiarity with the franchise then you know precisely what you're going to get.  Kaname acts like a classic tsundere, Sosuke is deadpan and oblivious, repeat ad naseaum.  Hell, you don't even really need to be all that familiar with the Full Metal Panic! canon as the characters and set-up are briefly summed up in the beginning.  The chapters themselves are fairly formulaic, and everything seems to end with Sosuke breaking out a gun, a grenade, or even a landmine all in the name of protecting Kaname.  He's so dedicated to his cause that not even a brief bout of amnesia can't stop him from his duties. 

The only thing that breaks up the monotony are the occasional bits of fourth-wall humor.  The characters might mess with the captions labeling them or comment on how all this ridiculousness is 'like being in a manga or a light novel!'  Sadly, these moments are the only times that the jokes come anywhere near inspired.  The reason that the comedy bits in the original series work so well is that they come before or in between extended bouts of serious business.  The lightheartedness lets the reader come down a little from the main storyline before diving back into the next big plot turn, and most adaptations know how to get the most from the simple set-up.  This manga, on the other hand, does not.  It just cranks the comedy to 11 and never stops going, and the end result feels both watered-down and tedious.

ART:

It took me at least two tries to actually get through this manga because of the character designs.  I don't know who this Shikidouji guy is, but I'm pretty sure no one really needed his particular take on this cast.  They're not quite normal and they're not quite super-deformed, but they're bizarre and over the top and not appealing in the least.  Plus now there's a lot of awkward panty shots to go with it all!  I don't know why this series demanded a separate character designer, but neither he nor Nagai add all that much visually.  It's all just a bunch of heavily stylized nonsense presented as plainly as possible.

RATING:

Not even Full Metal Panic! fans would get that much out of this version.  All it does is rehash old jokes in an ugly, goony artstyle.  In a world where we have Full Metal Panic! Fummofu, this manga is absolutely unnecessary.

This series was licensed by ADV.  This series is complete in Japan with 5 volumes available.  All 5 were published and all are currently out of print.

Review: KUJIBIKI UNBALANCE

I've seen all sorts of manga spinoffs in my day, but today's review has to be beyond a doubt one of the weirdest of them all.  It's not a sequel, prequel, or parody of any given series, but the manga adaptation of the anime show that the characters watch within their respective series.  It's one of the most meta manga I've come across, but this series proves that sometimes a joke really does need context to make any sort of sense.

KUJIBIKI UNBALANCE (Kujibiki Anbaransu), written by Kio Shimoku & art by Koume Keito.  First published in 2006, and first published in North America in 2008.

PLOT:

Rikkyoin High School where everything from the student council position to the most mundane things are decided by lotteries.  Amongst the incoming class of freshmen is Chihiro a chronically unlucky boy, and his happy-go-lucky friend Tohiko.  The two end up getting chosen to fill two positions on the student council along with mad scientist Renko, her perpetual guinea pig Kaoruko, and the shy but powerful Koyuki.  Now they have to shadow the current council before they can take over, but what happens when the student council president turns out to be Chihiro and Tohiko's childhood friend?

STORY:

I don't know why this manga exists. It's not that I don't know how this manga came to be -that's easy to explain.  First there was the Genshiken manga, in which Shimoku made up a show for the kids in Genshiken kids to obsess over without worrying over copyright (and having a little fun with anime tropes to boot).  Then that manga became a TV show, and they decided to turn that fake show into a funny little OVA.  Then someone got the bright idea to turn that OVA into a solo manga, and now not only have things come full circle but it has been entirely removed from its original context.  Without that context, though, Kujibiki Unbalance loses everything that made it satirical in the first place.  Now it's nothing but a pile of dumb anime tropes cranked to 11 that's played completely straight.

The biggest problem with the audience is never explicitly told that this is meant to be a satire of anime tropes.  We're meant to all of these one-note characters and their silly quirks and the whole ridiculous lottery idea as something that's totally unironic, if not in a completely serious manner.  Every joke is big, broad and dumb, every plot twist comes out of nowhere, and everything is delivered in the loudest, most obnoxious manner possible.  It's not even all that concerned with its own plot, as the whole lottery angle gets dropped midway through and it launches into all the usual high school set-ups.  It even manages to work in the equivalent of a beach episode, a hot springs episode, and a school festival episode.  The rest of the time it's trying to hype up the cheap emotional drama between Chihiro, Tohiko, and Renko the student council president in the hopes of turning it into an equally lame love triangle (or possibly more of a love pyramid, as Chihiro also has an overly possessive and hands-on sister so that the Imouto tickbox can be checked off as well).   All of this is over-the-top enough to potentially work as a joke, but there would have to be a lot more commentary to make it work.

This has to be one of the few manga out there that is completely and utterly unnecessary.  It's not funny, it's not entertaining, and were it not for a brief comic at the end where a couple of the Genshiken kids comment on the manga, it's completely disconnected from its far better source material.  It's just...there, being weird and dull for no reason at all other than as one big in-joke.

ART:

Again, the biggest problem here is that it's hard to tell whether Keito is playing things up as a joke or is being completely serious.  The artstyle certainly fits what is meant to be a silly moe romp, as the characters are all round and doll-like .  The problem is that they have weirdly flat faces, so when they turn into profile their eyes seem to almost float off their faces.  He also plays up the fanservice, as he takes every opportunity possible to show off panties or Tohiko's giant boobs in plenty of low, voyeuristic angles.  I will say that Keiko does have a good grasp of perspective and he knows how to fill up a panel with activity and 'jokes' without making it too chaotic.  It's certainly quite different from Shimoko's own artstyle, but it's not enough to draw a bunch of moe blobs, ogle their naughty bits, and call it a day.

RATING:

Kujibiki Unbalance should not exist as a manga.  It should have just stayed as a silly little in-joke in a far better manga/show, because without it the whole things falls flat.

This series was published by Del-Ray.  This series is complete in Japan with 2 volumes available.  Both volumes were published and are currently out of print.

Review: FUSHIGI YUGI: GENBU KAIDEN

It's another summer season full of sequels on both the big and small screens, so now's as good as time as any to explore the many sequels, prequels, and spin-offs to some of the biggest titles in manga-dom, and one of the biggest in shoujo history was Fushigi Yugi.  Now I've already made my thoughts on that series known, but for the longest time I always heard that this prquel series was far superior to the original, a rare feat in any medium.  Were they right?  Let's find out.

FUSHIGI YUGI: GENBU KAIDEN (The Mysterious Play: The Legend of Genbu Unfolds), by Yuu Watase.  First published in 2003, and first published in North America in 2005.

PLOT:

Takako Okuda is a spunky, athletic young lady growing up in 1920s Japan who finds herself in constant conflict with her scholarly father over her mother's waning health.  During an argument with her father, Takako opens up her father's latest project, a translation of "The Universe of the Four Gods."  In an instant, she is transported to a remote mountaintop in an unfamiliar land.  There Takiko saves what she thinks is a young woman chained to a post, but instead turns out to be a wanted criminal who can change sex at will.  Takiko now finds herself caught up in the adventure of a lifetime as she must now gather seven warriors to help her fulfill her destiny as the Priestess of Genbu., even if that destiny might mean the end of the world.

STORY:

So let's be blunt: Is Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden better than the manga that inspired it?  I can say with absolutely certainty that yes, it most absolutely is.  Watase's skills had improved greatly during the decade between the original manga and this series, and it's also clear that she took some of the criticism of the original to heart.  The end result of her effort is a far stronger story that's bolstered by a great leading lady and a greater focus on adventure than romantic indulgence.

Takako is as different from Miaka as night is different from day.  Takako is smart, athletic and even a little sassy.  It's safe to say that this girl does not want for backbone and is far less prone to strolling obliviously into danger.  She's also got a surprising amount of anger inside her, as her frustrations with her father have started to fester into a general hatred of men.  In all fairness, you can't blame for being frustrated her father can talk of nothing but his transcript until Takako is transported, and while it's clearly his way of dealing with his wife's condition it's also clearly tearing the family apart.  Watase has also finally learned how to write male characters that aren't just Tamahome knockoffs. Oh sure, Takako's Celestial Warriors might have a similar gimmick as Miaka's, with their combination of elemental powers and symbolic tattoos, but their personalities don't hew so closely to the usual sort of reverse harem types.  Limdo comes the closest to being the Tamahome expy, as he (she?) is blunt and self-serving, but he doesn't take it to such extremes and he comes off as more charming as a result.  The only other warrior we've met thus far is Chamka, but as he's both a worrywart and a mama's boy, he's there mostly for comic relief. 

The plot structure is admittedly a bit more similar to the original, although if we're being fair a LOT of manga ripped off the whole 'girl gets sucked into magic world, picks up a bunch of bishies, and becomes the Savior of the World' idea.  I do think that Genbu Kaiden makes it work better than most.  Takako takes on the cause not out of selfish desires, but out of a genuine heroic urge to protect others.  She also demonstrates that she's more than capable of doing just that and it feels like Takako is control of the plot instead of the plot being in control of her and her whims.  I sincerely hope it continues in this direction, because if so it could be the beginning of something that is truly epic in both a literal and figurative sense.

Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden is a prequel with the sensibility of a sequel.  It takes the basics from the story that inspired it and expands and transforms them into something better and (at least so far) more interesting.  It's stronger, more capable, and I'm far more interested in seein where this story goes.

ART:

The artwork hasn't advanced quite as far as Watase's storytelling and character-building has.  Her characters are a little more literally rounded and substantial than before, but she still has a hard time not turning every guy to Tamahome.  Still, at least she's using her bishonen more smartly, as Limdo's androgynous looks make his transformations a bit more believable.  She has gotten better at expanding the scale of her stories.  She frames her pages with lots of low angles to better capture the size and scale of the world around Takako, and some of the vistas are suitably grand.  Sadly, she gets a little lazy when things get a bit closer, as she tends to resort to the old shoujo sparkles and screentones in close-ups.  The changes to the art aren't revolutionary by any means, but the art of Genbu Kaiden has benefitted to some degree from the decade of experience that Watase picked up.

RATING:

It doesn't matter if you didn't like or even never read Fushigi Yugi, because Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden works as both a prequel and as a stand-alone series.  It takes a lot of the good stuff from the original and improves upon it, and the faults are far less severe and juvenile then that of its predecessor.  It's a grand adventure that shoujo readers should check out for themselves.

This series is licensed by Viz.  This series is complete in Japan with 12 volumes available.  All 12 have been published and are currently in print.